While I was in the dentist's chair last week, a patient asked how deep the anesthetic needle goes?!
Question: While I was in the dentist's chair last week, a patient asked how deep the anesthetic needle goes.?
The dentist would not answer. That got me curious. How deep does the injection go.?Health Question & Answer
Answers:
It really depends on what area of the mouth is being anesthetized, as there are different nerves that go to different areas and some are further in than others.
With the techniques used, there's not always a certain depth criteria. Since all patients are different, it really depends on the individual.
For example, when anesthetizing the upper (maxillary) back teeth (molars) the needle goes in roughly 16mm, in an adult patient. But it could be 10 to 14mm for younger or smaller adults.Health Question & Answer
With the techniques used, there's not always a certain depth criteria. Since all patients are different, it really depends on the individual.
For example, when anesthetizing the upper (maxillary) back teeth (molars) the needle goes in roughly 16mm, in an adult patient. But it could be 10 to 14mm for younger or smaller adults.Health Question & Answer
It depends on the size of the needle. For the upper teeth a standard infiltration usually with an inch long needle goes in about half to 2/3rds of the way. For the lowers, a longer 1 and 1/4 inch needle is used. An inferior alveolar nerve block requires that the needle go in about 3/4ths of the way. The dentist didnt answer in order to keep patient anxiety levels down. Health Question & Answer